Mobile data is projected to grow rapidly at the estimated CAGR of 66 percent from 2012 to 2017. Scaling network capacity through deployments of new base stations or advanced technology upgrades is not a viable option to keep up with the mobile data demand. Since Wi-Fi has become a standard feature on Smartphone, tablets and notebooks, mobile data offloading to Wi-Fi is helping operators to address the data growth that they are facing today. According to a GSMA wireless intelligence report in March 2013, Wi-Fi accounted for almost two-thirds of mobile's wireless data traffic and the operator had 3.83 million Wi-Fi access points in place at year-end. These numbers are beginning to reflect the Wi-Fi trends seen in highly advanced markets such as the US, South Korea and Japan where Wi-Fi offloading is common. Japan's KDDI is targeting half of its mobile data traffic being offloaded onto its Wi-Fi networks by this month, up from 43% at year-end 2012. Meanwhile, AT&T—which operates 32,000 of its own hotspots across the US—recently published statistics showing that connections to its Wi-Fi network more than doubled year-on-year in 2012. As the Smartphone or other mobile devices are increasingly connected to the Internet via Wi-Fi, it becomes less desirable to keep the Smartphone's LTE connection active as this will typically drain the battery quickly, and waste the LTE radio resources. However, if the LTE radio is switched off, it typically takes a long time for this mobile device to be reconnected to the LTE networks.
Although the following Detailed Description will proceed with reference being made to illustrative embodiments, many alternatives, modifications, and variations thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art.